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Media Watch

As the self-storage industry permeates our communities, it receives increasing attention from mainstream media outlets—and not always favorably. As industry professionals, we should be aware of how self-storage is presented to the public. Media Watch is devoted to policing and summarizing general news coverage.

Developer Pushes Mall Self-Storage

From Miami Herald, 3.2.06

A proposal for a storage facility to be constructed at the Hammocks Town Center was presented to the West Kendall (Fla.) Community Council. Larry Jordan, development manager for Mike Carter Construction, proposed a 96,000-squarefoot facility at Hammocks Town Center. Jordan said self-storage facilities within shopping centers is an emerging trend.

Old Site Gets New Storage

From Belleville News-Democrat, 3.09.06

After years of trying in vain to find a new use for the site of the abandoned Meyer Oldsmobile garage, Swansea, Ill., leaders believe they have a project that’s a go. A St. Louis developer plans for a 65,000-square-foot self-storage facility and 21,000-square-foot retail center on the sunken land along Illinois 161.

Brothers Accused of Stealing From Storage

From WFSB TV 3, 3.14.06

Newington, Conn., police said two brothers are charged with breaking into units at Planet Self Storage, hitting the business 81 times and stealing $13,000 worth of goods. The suspects are accused of stealing power tools, bikes and lawn and garden supplies and selling some of the items on eBay. Police said those who bought the goods could also be in trouble.

Man Busted for Producing Meth in Storage

From Southeast Missourian, 3.29.06

A Court Cape Girardeau. Mo., man who admitted to producing methamphetamine in the Golden Eagle Self-storage facility was sentenced to 120 days in prison with a possible seven-year prison term following. The man was arrested in August after allowing police to search his three storage units, where authorities found a bag of meth, two cylinders that tested positive for anhydrous ammonia, and other drug-making chemicals.

Couple Faces Burglary Charges

From Portland Press Herald, 3.15.06

A Biddeford, Maine, couple faces charges of stealing more than $100,000 in tools and other items from storage facilities and worksites throughout southern Maine, police said. The two are accused of receiving stolen property and burglary in connection with more than a dozen break-ins and thefts at self-storage units, construction sites and hardware stores since August.

U-Haul Tenant Fights Back

From Courier-Post, 4.12.06

After an electrical fire destroyed $750,000 worth of property at U-Haul Self-Storage in Lindenwold, N.J., police accused a day-laborer of causing the blaze. The man admitted he’d once lived in the 300-squarefoot storage unit where the fire started, but said he’d not been in residence for a year. Faulty wiring is believed to be the cause of the fire, and the accused maintains the problem existed before his tenancy. Public records confirm that U-Haul staff assisted by Lindenwold police ejected the man from the facility in February 2005.

Garage Full? Rent a New One

From The Leaf-Chronicle, 3.30.06

The newest trend in storage isn’t plastic boxes, cubbyholes for kids’ toys or storage ottomans for seldom-used things. Now rental storage units, once the province of furniture-between-moves, are increasingly used as remote additions to a house. “Once you get them in here, they’ll stay for two or three years,” said the manager of All American Self Storage in Clarkesville, Tenn.